Never Allowed to Grow
by Animaman
Summary: One-Shot.  Sakura learns a little lesson about why Naruto is the way he is.  No romance, just just a little bit of character development.  Team7centric.


Never Allowed to Grow

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, because if I did, I wouldn't be writing on this website now, would I?

This takes place sometime after wave, before Kakashi nominates his team before the chunin exams.

Sakura is walking towards the bridge where she and the rest of Team 7 usually meet, or rather her and her teammate meet while they wait for most of the morning for their sensei with the worlds worst sense of timing. Ever since their return from the Wave mission, they've been stuck with D-ranked missions, but none of them minded considering what they went through. All of the near death experiences they've been through can change a person in many ways.

Naruto was the one who change the most. He was the complete opposite of the loud, annoying idiot she's known since the academy. He was now more calculating, more serious about his training, that Kakashi said something about Naruto finally taking off that mask of his and let his true abilities come to light.

Sakura was confused by this and when she asked how and why her blonde teammate would need to wear a mask, unfortunately it came out in the worst possible way, one that would come out of the mouth of a fan girl. It would be the last time Naruto would actually talk to her as nothing more then an acquaintance when they're together because the question included a bunch of insult and the usual comparisons to Sasuke.

The answer Naruto gave her was in the tone she least expected, one where he was no longer afraid of her. He said it was to prevent morons like her from denying him the happiness that even he himself is entitled to. When Sakura decided to respond with her fist, Naruto proved who the weaker member of the team really was when he performed a substitution jutsu, to replace himself with Sasuke.

After she unintentionally whacked her crush on the head, Sakura confronted him about what happened, saying she was going to make sure everybody in Konoha found out what he did, only for Naruto to counter by asking who the villagers, or more specifically, the fan club will want blood from, the person who swapped places with Sasuke or the one who hit him. This shut her up because they both knew the answer to that, one word and the rest of the fan club would be giving her the same treatment she gives Naruto whenever he talks back to Sasuke.

As soon as she arrived near her destination, a loud "Incoming!" shot out, making her jump aside just in time to avoid a large fireball, which destroyed the bark on one of the trees nearby. "Sorry about that, Sakura." Naruto said, "Sasuke was teaching me how to do the fireball jutsu."

Sakura was feeling shocked at this, even thought it wasn't the first time the two boys trained together, she asks Sasuke countless of times to go on a date with her or train, and somehow Naruto is able to pull off getting some training time with the boy. "How do you get Sasuke to train with you?" She asked, "I keep asking him to spend time with me and he constantly blows me off."

"I just flat out ask him." Naruto said, "I didn't kiss his ass like most of this damn village has been doing."

"And believe me, after that mission, I could get used to having somebody who is actually willing to knock me down a few pegs since people keep treating me like some kind of messiah or something ridiculous." Sasuke said, with a small snort at the end.

"While I get treated like I was some kind of criminal." Naruto said, "Like I ticked them off somewhere in the past."

"Well what do you expect from all those pranks you pull." Sakura said, "That will give anybody a reason to hate you."

"Hating somebody over a prank is just an excuse, not a reason." Sasuke said, "Especially if you want to hold somebody back for something more personal."

"What do you mean Sasuke?" Sakura asked, "Nobody was holding you back."

Both boys smacked themselves on the head, "Oh boy." Naruto said, as they drag their hands down their face.

"I was talking about Naruto you twit." Sasuke said, "Considering how most of the teachers would react whenever he raises his hand or does something right."

"Well that's because he is always goofing around." Sakura said, "Being the class clown and pulling off pranks on everybody."

"Like I had a choice," Naruto said, "I was never allowed to grow because most of this village keeps trying everything they could to get rid of me."

"Well if you haven't been playing pranks on everybody . . ." Sakura started to say.

"Then nobody would both to notice me." Naruto countered, "If I didn't play any pranks on anybody and they still hate me, what would your reason be on that?"

This caused Sakura to stop and think about the question, 'If he didn't play pranks and he still got treated the way he did, then why would most of the villager treat him this way?' Her thoughts were interrupted when Naruto spoke again.

"Although why am I bothering to ask you this?" He asked, "You were more focused on Sasuke and your little dream to even bother to look my way and whenever you did, it was just to insult me or pound me."

"Well you were too busy being all immature asking me out and playing pranks. . ." Sakura started say.

"Oh and you weren't by turning me down with your fist?" Naruto said, "Let me ask you this, what do you really know about me besides from what you hear on the streets and through rumors spread by most of the adults?"

Before she could answer that, "And while we're near the topic, what do you know me as well?" Sasuke asked, "Because I keep hearing you and the rest of that damn fan club talking about my likes or dislikes, even though I never told anybody anything, and yet you seem to know me perfectly."

"And the only thin you seem to have right is the fact that he survived his clan's massacre by his own brother." Naruto said, "While nobody seems to realize that the only reason why I was the dead last in the class and was always so loud and obnoxious was because in most of those bastards' eyes, I was never allowed to grow up."

The next couple of hours was mostly quiet, or at least from Sakura since she was thinking about what she was told earlier by her crush and the boy that she considered annoying, while also trying to figure out what did she really know about her two teammates personally. While her sensei is a different story since he's always late, always reads that stupid book is a lazy smartass and that he refuses to talk about himself and his past.

Right now Naruto and Sasuke were busy doing a little taijitsu training when Kakashi made his usual entrance, which was to appear in a puff of smoke on the branch of a nearby tree. "So what took you so long this time sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Have trouble deciding what book to bring with you?" Naruto asked.

"You know, I think I'll keep that excuse." Kakashi said, with an eye smile, before noticing the moves Naruto was pulling off, "Where did you learn those moves, Naruto?"

"From the old man." Naruto said, "When I told him about what happened and what I needed help on since most of the teachers at the academy would rather help me flunk instead of actually helping me."

"And how are you able to get the Hokage away long enough to train you?" Kakashi said, while reading his favorite book.

"Oh when I gave him the suggestion of using shadows clones in his work, he was more then pleased to spend time with me, after he was done banging his head against his desk."

Kakashi, on the other hand, was surprised that he didn't think of using a shadow clone to do his duties while he was out somewhere else reading his book. "I see." Was all he said, "Anyway, we have a break from missions today to do some training."

"If you're planning the usual, then you're out of your freaking mind, sensei." Naruto said, "Especially since it violates that little saying you told us after we passed your test."

"And what saying is that?" Kakashi asked.

"Those who don't follow the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are lower then trash." Naruto said, while crossing his arms, "Whenever you take Sasuke aside to train him personally and leave us out of the loop, it proves that you are just a hypocrite who doesn't follow their own words to the letter."

Kakashi was feeling a little guilt at what he was told, and knew that his sensei would be seriously disappointed if he saw him today. "You're right, I need to be more of a sensei to all of you, not just one." He said, "So how about we get started on figuring out what we all need to work out."

"And that would include you Sakura since I believe you've been too busy neglecting your training just so you can figure out a way to woo me." Sasuke said.

The next few hours, Sakura can describe as completely painful because it showed her how badly she has been ignoring her training because she thought book smarts was more then enough. Now she really needed to take her ninja career a bit more seriously. After Kakashi dismissed them for the day and left the same way he came in, Sakura decided to ask Naruto the question that has been bugging her all morning, "Naruto, what did you mean by never being allowed to grow up?" She asked, because she realizes that after looking back, that she really had no idea how bad it was when you compare Naruto's and Sasuke's life from the past few years.

Naruto gave a small sigh, deciding to give her a half truth since he wasn't ready to give his two team mates the real cause of his misery. "I lack manners because I was an orphan since birth and nobody wanted anything to do with me. I was loud, obnoxious and insulting because that was what I mostly grew up on, and I ended up thinking that's how everybody talks to each other, without anybody explaining the difference to me. I became the dead last of the class because the only time the teachers would raise a finger was to get rid of me whenever I was showing any kind of progress, but not in the way they want it. The reason I was the class clown was because it was easier to laugh with everybody then it was to admit I needed help, especially in a class where everybody would rather look the other way. The reason why I pulled pranks is because it was the only way I can think of to actually get some training done since they would rather train with Sasuke." Naruto said, deciding now would be the time to add the icing to the cake, "The main reason why most of the village hates me so much is because I was born on the same day as the kyubi attack and they needed somebody to take their grief out on."

After Naruto walked away, Sasuke spoke up, "And to let you know, yes I do plan to restore my clan, but I would prefer a girl who can make her own choices, not follow the crowed. Strong in both mind and body, but not in the way where you and the rest of the fan girls are too busy acting like models instead of taking your career as ninjas seriously." He said, "But I plan on waiting until I'm at least a few years older to consider dating anyway because we're still children for god sakes."

When she was now alone, Sakura now realized that the things she had, like the love of parents, are things that her team mates lost or never had, and she still had a lot to learn. She walked home, deciding that starting tomorrow, she was going to help turn Team 7 into something better.

Here it is, my latest story, which will be a one-shot. I wrote this because I wanted to bring up a few things you rarely see in any other story, mainly about why Naruto is the way he is. Let me know what you think. Read and Review.


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